What Went Wrong?
by Sideshow Hayden
Summary: Sideshow Mel has developed jealousy towards Bob for his 'comedic genius'. Only he doesn't remember that Bob and his brother Cecil were his first friends. Rated T for bullying and misgendering towards Mel.


**In this story, Mel is dfab. Meaning he was born female. This story was based on a few headcanons I have for Sideshow Mel.**

**For most of Mel's life (in my headcanons at least), he thought he was transgender, but it turns out he was transmasculine bigender.**

**I also noticed the only fic involving Mel on here was in Spanish, so I decided to make a change to that. Also, sorry if Mel, Bob, or Cecil happen to be OOC. I haven't seen many episodes involving Mel or Cecil, but I just love these three so much that I had to do this.**

**Also there's some misgendering and bullying towards Mel in this fic. Just warning you. If you get triggered by that, don't read this. I really don't wanna trigger someone.**

**And yes, I ship Bob and Mel. I'm weird, I know that.**

* * *

Mel was sitting on the swing set alone, tears streaming down his face. The other kids were playing happily with their friends. But it was Mel's first day at Springfield Elementary, and already the other students were mean to him. The insults had been ringing throughout his head.

_That girl is a freak._

_If Melanie gets to be a boy, then my little sister could be the dog she pretends she is._

Two brothers by the names of Bob &amp; Cecil were looking at Mel from the distance.

"That's the new transgender kid." Bob, the older one, said.

Cecil looked up at his brother with a confused look on his face. "What's that mean? Transgender?"

"It means he was born a girl but knows he's really a boy." He explained. "Everyone else has been super mean to him and using the name he was born with. He told the class specifically to call him Mel or Melvin but it seems no one listened."

The younger brother looked back at the new kid who was sitting by himself on the swing set. "Mel looks really upset. Maybe we should go talk to him."

Bob had thought for a minute before eventually agreeing with his brother. "I can't stand to see him cry like this, he doesn't deserve it."

* * *

Mel was surprised to see Bob and Cecil walk towards him. He assumed they didn't want anything to do with him, so he didn't say a word.

"Um, hello. Melvin's your name, right?" Cecil tapped the older, green-haired boy on the shoulder.

He gasped. "Someone... wants to talk to me."

"My brother and I just couldn't stand to see you alone like this. By the way, I'm Cecil and he's Bob."

Mel smiled. "Well, hello Cecil. Bob. You two seem nice." He looked at the ground and sighed. "All day people have been insulting me behind my backs, thinking I couldn't hear a word. That was one of the reasons I had to move away from Shelbyville."

The brothers sat on the swings next to Mel. "W-Well, the two of us think you're neat." Bob stuttered. "I mean, how many kids have a bone in their hair?"

Mel laughed. "It's just a thing that runs in the Van Horne family. It might look silly but hey, at least I'd be easy to spot in a crowd."

Bob looked at Mel, blushing slightly. "I don't get why people don't like you. You're cool."

"Nah, stop that, you." Mel played with his hair.

* * *

Decades later, Mel was the sidekick of Krusty the Klown. He was sitting alone at his house, watching a rerun of the Krusty the Klown Show. A very familiar face from 3rd grade had appeared. Only Mel didn't know it was Bob Tertwilliger, one of his first friends. The two hadn't talked since high school and his memory became fuzzy. Mel knew he recognized that face, he just didn't know where he knew it from. The name Bob seemed to ring a bell too...

When Bob had appeared on the screen, Mel made a gagging noise. Over the years, he had overheard Krusty talking about how Bob was a better sideshow than him. He tried not to show it, but he had become really jealous of this 'Bob', not knowing how close they used to be. Mel knew he probably wouldn't live up to Bob's 'comedic genius' that Krusty had mentioned millions of times. Sure, he kind of hated the job, but it was worth the applause and laughter the children gave him. Acting was his passion. And he had a wife and kids to feed, so he'd do it as long as it meant they'd get to eat and the bills would be paid.

* * *

Meanwhile, the Tertwilliger brothers were sitting together in their prison cell.

There was a long moment of silence until Cecil broke it. "How do you think that Melvin kid from 3rd grade is doing now?" He asked out of curiosity.

"Mel is Krusty's new sideshow, apparently. I have the feeling he's going to go crazy soon so he might as well enjoy the attention he gets while it lasts."

* * *

None of the boys knew what went wrong. They used to be jolly little 3rd graders who dreamt of being sideshows. But now two of them were criminals, and Mel developed jealousy towards Bob. Somedays the Tertwilliger brothers missed the days before Bob became a sideshow and framed Krusty for a crime he didn't commit. But now all Bob was focused on was the next time he'd be getting out of jail, plotting about what he was going to do to Bart Simpson once that day came.

* * *

**I know it's horrible. And btw this takes place shortly after Brother From Another Series.**


End file.
